Tuesday, 13 January 2015

Information literacy (IL) provides opportunities to
those who want to be independent learners. The rapid growth in the availability
of information has made it impossible to search relevant information sources
without IL skills.

IL has been defined differently by different
authors as: a set of skills and abilities, a process, and the adoption of
appropriate information behaviour. Research supports introducing students to IL
at an early age to make them independent learners while still young. IL
literature has focused mostly on high school and university level students.
Although there has been much development of IL models at school level, only a
few are research based and their emphasis is on school education above the
primary level. There is a lack of local
research, or even descriptive studies, at primary school level. Therefore, this
study aims to explore IL practices in the primary schools of Lahore, Pakistan.

After considering different research approaches,
the qualitative sequential multiple case studies approach was adopted. Data
were collected from primary school teachers (interviews), children (focus
groups), librarians (interviews).
Related documents (curricula, teacher guides, activity sheets etc.) were
also collected. Children were also asked to fill in some sheets (designed or
adapted) to measure their IL skills. Initial findings showed that private
schools are doing better in terms of basic IL practice. However, in both
sectors teachers were unaware of the concept. The analysis of the most recent
school practice curriculum showed that IL can be practised mainly in English
language and General Knowledge courses at primary level.

This study will propose a research-based IL model
for the selected primary schools of Lahore, Pakistan. This baseline study will
be a valuable contribution to local knowledge and an overall addition to school
sector IL literature. The findings of the PhD will provide directions for policy makers and identify concerns regarding
the development and improvement of IL programs at primary school level in
Pakistan.